Financing Your Graduate Education

Tips for funding your graduate education at UCA.

The first step to funding your graduate education at UCA is determining how much it will cost you to attend. UCA’s Student Accounts office provides the most current information on the tuition and fees for attending UCA.

Did you know that out-of-state students can pay in-state tuition if they live in UCA owned housing? The options include 11 residence halls on campus and 6 off-campus apartment villages. Some of these locations are operated with graduate students in mind. SeeStudent Accounts.

2. Private Funds

You can fund your graduate education at UCA by paying by semester or year with your own earnings or savings. If you do not have the private funds available to do this, keep reading, you have additional options.

There are relatively few scholarship options available to graduate students. However, the UCA Foundation does have some scholarships for which students can apply. UCA Foundation Scholarships have an application deadline in early March. In addition, many professional fields do have scholarships for students, so it is recommended that you discuss your interest in scholarships with your graduate program director. The program director may be able to point you in the right direction.

Each year, between 10-15% of UCA graduate students are hired across campus as Graduate Assistants. Graduate assistantships usually require students to work 20 hours/week, and the students are paid a semi-monthly stipend for that work. Full-time graduate assistants who are from out-of-state are only required to pay in-state tuition!! Most graduate assistants assist faculty members with their classes and/or research, but there are other positions on campus such as in the offices of various student services, Housing, Athletics, etc. that are not directly tied to faculty members in a specific department.

The friendly staff in UCA’s Financial Aid office can assist you in finding publicly or privately funded loans for you to borrow for the purposes of attending graduate school. These loans are not gifts and will need to be paid back after you complete your degree.